Brick laying device



Nov. 26, 1963 c. c. MAYES BRICK LAYING DEVICE.

4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Original Filed Nov. 25, 1955 INVENTOR.

CLELL C. MAYES Nov. 26, 1963 c. c. MAYES BRICK LAYING DEVICE 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Original Filed Nov. 25, 1955 INVENTOR. cL ELL c MAY ES Nov. 26, 1963 c. c. MAYES 3,111,764

' BRICK LAYING DEVICE Original Filed Nov. 25, 1955 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 FIG. H

INVENTOR. CLELL C.MAYES Nov. 26, 1963 c. c. MAYEIS BRICK LAYING DEVICE 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Original Filed Nov. 25, 1955 FIG-17A IN V EN TOR.

FIG-=11- FIG. 15

CLELL Co MAYES United States Patent 1 Claim. (CI. 33-85) This invention relates to masonary and particularly methods and means for laying brick, cement and cinder blocks and tile on building walls where it is desired to provide a wall with a straight surface, and in particular apparatus for suspending a straight edge or guide at the face of a wall whereby bricks and other masonry elements may readily be positioned directly against the guide to form a straight wall.

The present invention is a division of prior application Serial Number 548,805.

The purpose of this invention is to provide a rigid guide against which bricks and other masonary elements may be laid to facilitate forming outer and inner surfaces of walls in which the device is adapted to be moved upwardly with the formation of the wall.

Various types of devices and particularly cords suspended by nails and other fastening elements have been used as guides to facilitate laying bricks and other elements to form a masonary wall, however, such devices are readily moved away from a straight line and where the mounting elements are not rigidly attached the line develops slack and is easily moved outwardly or inwardly resulting in an uneven wall surface.

With this thought in mind this invention contemplates a brick laying guide unit including spaced vertically disposed rods with a straight edge providing a guide adjustably mounted on the rods and adapted to be moved upwardly with the progress of the wall, a scaffold carried by the rods, a winch for drawing the scaffold upwardly on the rods, and shoes carried by the scaffold and adapted to space lower ends of the rods from the surface of a wall.

The object of this invention is, therefore, to provide means for suspending a straight edge providing a guide on the surface of a wall to expedite laying bricks, building blocks, and other building elements on a wall to provide a facing thereon.

Another object of the invention is to provide apparatus for supporting an elongated straight edge or guide at the wall surface, without changing the foundation, wall supporting columns or other elements whereby the device is adapted to be used in combination with conventional wall structures.

A further object of the invention is to provide mounting means for an elognated guide to facilitate laying brick and the like in which the apparatus is of simple and economical construction.

With these and other objects and advantages in view the invention embodies a pair of rods, an elongated angle bar or L-shaped straight edge carried by supporting elements slidably mounted on the bars or rods and adapted to be moved upwardly thereon, brackets for supporting the rods from the roof or upper part of a building, scaffolds adjustably mounted on the rods, and shoes adjustably mounted on the scaffold elements and positioned to engage the surface of a wall so that the bricks or other elements may be freely positioned against a straight edge without danger of bowing the straight edge outwardly between supporting elements.

Other features and advantages of the invention will appear from the following description taken in connection with the drawings, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a front elevational View showing a building wall in the course of construction with one of the 3 ,111,764 Patented Nov. 26, 1963 "ice improved scaffolds positioned against the outer surface of the wall and with adjoining sections of the wall broken away.

FIGURE 2 is a cross section through a wall taken on line 22 of FIG. 1 showing inner and outer brick and building block guides suspended by spaced vertically disposed rods and also showing portions of inner and outer wall surfacing elements, the upper inner edges of which are in contact with guides of this invention.

FIGURE 3 is a sectional plan through the lower end of one of the rods and also through the scaffold supporting elements showing the construction of the parts and with parts broken away.

FIGURE 4 is a cross section through a splicing or connecting section of one of the rods being taken on line 44 of FIG. 2.

FIGURE 4A is a view illustrating a splicing element which is adapted to be positioned between sections of tubing, forming the rods.

FIGURE 5 is a sectional plan taken on line 55 of FIG. 2 showing the method of attaching upper ends of the rods to brackets at the upper edge of a wall.

FIGURE 6 is a sectional plan through a supporting rod particularly adapted for use on the inside of a wall being taken on line 6-5 of FIG. 2 and illustrating the members of a screw jack such as may be used on the lower ends of the rods.

FIGURE 7 is a sectional plan taken on line 77 of FIG. 2 showing the elements of a telescoping section which provides means for adjusting the length of the rods.

FIGURE 8 is a side elevational view of one of the straight edge or guide bar supporting elements with the parts shown on an enlarged scale illustrating one of the support arms for suspending the guide bar from the rods and also showing a hand crank for rotating the elements to adjust the elevation of the guide bar.

FIGURE 9 is a sectional plan through the unit shown in FIG. 8 being taken on line 8-8 thereof illustrating side plates mounted at the sides of a guide bar supporting unit and showing the device positioned on a shoe mounting structure on one side of the rod.

FIGURE 10 is a sectional plan taken on line 1010 of FIG. 8 showing the relative positions of the hand cranks, shoes, and support arms with the unit positioned on one of the tubular rods and with parts broken away.

FIGURE 11 is a side elevational view taken on line ilk-11 of FIG. 10 showing the relative positions of the actuating gears with the guide bar supporting brackets and elevating gears.

FIGURE 12 is a side elevational view of one of the guide bars or straight edges showing spacing elements suspended from upper edges of the guide bar for locating the guide bar from a wall surface.

FIGURE 13 is a cross section through the guide bar shown in FIG. 12 being taken on line 13-13 thereof.

FIGURE 13A is a perspective view, with the parts shown on an enlarged scale, illustrating one of the spacing elements of the design shown in FIGS. 12 and 13.

FIGURE 14 is a sectional plan looking downwardly upon the upper surface of the wall at a corner of a build ing and showing adjustable means for connecting ends of straight edges or guide bars.

FIGURE 15 is an end elevational view taken on line 15-115 of FIG. 14 showing the angle bar or straight edge and also a clamp for securing the bar in position on the wall of a building.

FIGURE 16 is a sectional plan similar to that shown in FIG. 14 showing connecting elements of the guide bar on the inner surfaces of a wall and at the corner of a building.

FIGURE 17A is an elevational view showing a Wall 3 with a plurality of guides or guide bars positioned thereon illustrating the progressive steps in moving the guides upwardly.

Referring now to the drawings wherein like reference characters denote corresponding parts the improved brick laying device of this invention includes a straight edge, L-sl1aped in cross section, or angle bar 17, support arms 18 which are secured to gear racks 19, and on the outer ends of which the guide bars d7 are carried, arcuate shoes 21, similar to brake shoes, nested around the tubular rods 29, and a hand lever 22 for actuating one of the shoes to clamp the shoes against the rods to lock the unit in suitable positions upon the rods 2%, the opposite or stationary Shoe being secured, such as by welding to the side plates 23 and to an end plate 24 upon which the rear racks w are slidably mounted.

The gear racks 19 are slidably mounted against the outer surface of the plate 24- and the racks are separated by a centrally disposed vertically positioned bar 25 which is secured to the plate 24 with bolts 26 and side bars 27, as shown in FIG. 9, the side bars being positioned to extend over edges of the gear racks and being secured in position with screws 28.

The teeth of the gear rack 19 mesh with teeth of gears 29 rotatably mounted by a shaft 38 and the shaft being rotatably mounted in bearings 32. The shafts 3% are rotated by hand cranks 32 on extended outer ends of the shafts 343 and it will be noted that the gears 29, which mesh with the gear teeth of the racks 19 are mounted on the opposite end of the shaft. The gears 2?, which hold the gear racks 1?, are adapted to be locked in adjusted positions with latch bars 33, teeth on the ends of which are held in the teeth of the gears 29 with springs 34.

The extended ends of the support arms 13 are secured to the angle bars or guides 17 with bolts 35 which extend into slots 36 in the bars 18 making it possible to slide the angle bar or guide toward or away from a wall in order to accurately adjust the positions of the guides.

The tubular rods 26* are adapted to be provided in sections and the sections connected with connectors 37 having collars 79 on intermediate portions thereof and openings 7'1 and 72 in the ends for receiving bolts 38 extended through the wall of the rod. It will be understood that sections of the rods 2% may be connected by other suitable means.

The upper parts of the rods 2%) are adjustably secured in clamps having jaws 3-? and 73, the jaw 3? being positioned on the end of a bar 74 and the jaw 73 being adjustably connected to the bar 74 with bolts 75. As illustrated in FIG. 2 the bar "74, which is L-shaped in cross section, such as an angle bar, is secured to the upper end of a wall, such as the wall '76 with bolts 77.

The scaffold is supported with triangular-shaped frames 40 with collars 4d, which are slidably mounted on the rods 2%, at upper and lower ends thereof and the lower collars are secured to the rods 2% with bolts 42. The platforms of the scafiolds are formed with boards 43 and the scaffolds are also provided with outer rails id which are freely held in clips 78 on posts 79 which are secured to outer ends of the frames 40 and the lower ends of which are secured to the frames with cross bars 86.

The scaffolds are provided with spaced shoes 45 that are suspended on extended ends of adjusting screws 16, the adjusting screws being secured in vertically disposed members 81 of the scaifold frames with bars 82. The shoes 45 are also secured on extended ends of the adjusting screws with nuts 33.

The device is provided with a coursing line 47 that extends upwardly from a nail or other fastener 48 at the lower end of the wall to the top of the building and with the height coursing marked thereon provides a brick or masonry coursing elevation marker when stretched at the sides of the arms 18 thereby obviating the necessity of using the pocket rule or coursing rod.

The complete units, including the straight edges or guides with the adjustable supporting units thereof and scaffolds are suspended from the top of the building with cables 49 having winches St on lower ends thereof and the ends of the winches are connected by cables 84, the lower ends of which are connected to cross bars of the scaffold frames by hooks or other fasteners 86.

Similar units may be provided on the inside of a wall with lower ends of the posts or rods resting upon a foundation 5'1 and with telescoping sections '52 having flanges 87 on upper ends thereof and provided with spaced openings 53, adjustably mounted in upper ends of the rods with bolts 54, Screw jacks are provided in the lower ends of the rods with flanges 55 at the lower ends resting upon the foundation 51 and with adjusting nuts 56 threaded on three. ed sections of studs 57 extended upwardly from the flanges 55 and into the lower ends of the rods 20. The parts may be secured in adjusted positions with the nuts as, and the lower ends of the rods 20 on the inside of the wall are provided with screws 58, inner ends of which extend into slots 83 in the screw jacks 57 to prevent accidental displacement of the jacks.

With the straight edge or guide bar supporting units in the positions shown on the inside of the wall, as illustrated in FIG. 2, bricks or other building blocks may be laid from the foundation 51 upwardly, however, in order to nest the bricks or the like below a beam 59 it will be necessary to invert the position of the support bars or arms 13 in order to extend the guide bars above the supporting units.

Also in order to lay large elements, such as cement or cinder blocks, tile, and the like the guide bars 17 may be provided with spacing bars do which are suspended from upwardly disposed flanges 39 of the guide bars with inverted U-shaped clips @t) and 91 and the lower ends of the bars oil may be provided with flanges )2.

In order to make the guide bars adjustable to buildings of different lengths the guide bars 17 are provided with splicing plates or filler sections 61, as shown in HQ. 14 and the sections 61 are connected to ends of the guide bars 17 with bars 62 having elongated slots 63 therein and the bars 62 are connected to the guide bars 17 with bolts 64 which extend through the slots providing means for adjusting the positions of the element 62.

The splicing elements 61 may be provided in different lengths and, as shown in FIG. 14, the guide bars may be provided with clips 65 which are adjustably secured by screws having wing heads, such as the screws 66 whereby U-shaped sections 93 extended from the plate 65 may be adjustably secured to the upwardly extended flanges 89 of the guide bars ll? or similar flanges 94 of the splicing members 631.

As illustrated in FIG. 16 similar splicing elements may be provided with L-shaped plates 67 having flanges 95 on the ends carried by the ends of the bars 62.

it will be understood, therefore, that the straight edges or guide bars may be provided in dilierent lengths and the lengths thereof may be adjusted to compensate for buildings and walls of different sizes.

The bricl-c laying device of this invention is adapted to be used, selectively, with the support arms 18 extended upwardly to hold the straight edge of guide bar 17 just above the upper edge of a wall as shown on the outside of the wall in FIG. 2, or with the support arms 18 extended downwardly with the straight edge or guide bar depending from the supporting elements, as shown on the inside of the wall in FIG. 2 and where the height of the surfacing materials, such as cement or cinder blocks or tile is greater than the height of the vertical leg 89 of the guide bar the bar 66 may be positioned on the guide bar and the parts adjusted whereby the bricks or blocks engage the outstanding edges of the bar fill.

in starting a wall the support arms 18 are inverted, as shown on the inside of the wall in FIG. 2 whereby the guide bar may be positioned at the lower end of the wall to start the first course of bricks and as the wall progresses the support arms 18 are turned over and positioned as shown on the outside of the wall in FIG. 2.

The guide bars which provide the straight edges are disclosed and described as being L-shaped in cross section, being angle bars and it will be understood that these bars may be formed of other structural shapes as may be desired. The guide bars are adjustably mounted on the support arms 18 with the bolts 35 in the slots 36 and the support arms, which are also L-shaped in cross section are secured to the gear racks with bolts 96. The gear racks 19 are slidably mounted on the outer surface of the plate 24 with the edges retained in position with the bars 27 and with the inner edges separated by the bar 25. The gear racks are adapted to be actuated independently by turning the cranks 32 which are provided with handles 97 and which are secured on the ends of the shafts 30 with lock nuts 98.

Assuming that three sets of brick laying devices such as disclosed in this application are used on a wall with three guide bars 17, as shown in FIG. 17A as the center bricklayer reaches a point A the left hand end of the center guide bar is raised by turning one of the cranks 32 and as the bricklayer in the right hand section reaches a point B the opposite end of the center guide bar is raised. By the same means the guide bars at the ends are raised with each bricklayer moving the ends of the bars upwardly as his section of the course of bricks is finished.

By this means the guide bars are moved upwardly with the gear racks 19 and the gear racks are actuated by the cranks 32 and locked in positions with teeth 99 of the latch bars 33, the teeth being urged into meshing relation with the teeth of the gears 29 by the springs 34. The latch bars 33 are pivotally mounted by pins 100 in bearings 101 which extend from the side plates 23 as shown in FIGS. 8 and 11.

The side plates 23 and the end plates 24 extend downwardly to the point 102 providing a support for the overhanging guide bars 17, the inner surfaces of the plates 24 bearing against the arcuate shoes 21 which are slidably mounted on the tubular rods 20. The shoes 21 on the opposite sides of the rods or tubes 20 are comparatively short, also as shown in FIG. 8. The upper ends of the side plates 23 are provided with extensions 103 which provide mounting means for the outer bearings 31. Set collars 104 are positioned on the shafts 30 between the bearings 31 to provide locating means for the shafts and also to prevent longitudinal movements of the shafts in the bearings.

The levers 22 which, in combination with the outer shoes 21 provide brakes or clamps for securing the units in position on the members 20 are pivotally mounted by shafts 105 in the extensions 103 of the plates 23 with spacing elements 106 and 107 between the levers and plates and, as illustrated in FIG. 10, the levers are provided With toggle extensions 108 that are pivotally mounted with bolts 109 between ears 110 extended from the short shoes 21. Due to this construction, the shoes are locked against the tubular rods 20, and the levers 22 are drawn downwardly to the position shown in FIG. 8.

The supporting units are progressively moved upwardly as the courses of masonary are laid and the units are clamped in adjusted positions by the levers 22. With the units clamped in position the cranks 32 are rotated to adjust the positions of the guide bar 17 and the guide bar is secured in position with the latch bars 33, the gears 29 being keyed to the shafts 30 with keys 111.

lt will be understood that modifications, within the scope of the appended claim, may be made in the design and arrangement of the parts without departing from the spirit of the invention.

What is claimed is:

In a scaffold including a horizontally disposed platform, a rod rising from each end of said platform adjacent one side edge thereof, and means for dependingly supporting said platform from an overhead support, a vertically disposed rack disposed about said platform adjacent each end of said platform and connected to the adjacent rod for sliding up and down movement, a rotatable gear in mesh with each of said racks, means for adjustably supporting said gears on said rods, hand actuable means for rotating each of said gears, and a straight edge bar extending between said rods and having each of the ends thereof connected to the adjacent rack for movement therewith, said straight edge bar being adapted to serve as a guide for a brick course in a wall to be constructed below and adjacent said overhead support.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 363,179 Smith May 17, 1887 380,254 Fisher Mar. 27, 1888 1,136,898 Granger Apr. 20, 1915 1,195,976 Chesebro Aug. 29. 1916 1,371,011 Waite Mar. 8, 1921 1,720,987 Adam July 16, 1929 1,915,802 Roshnell June 27, 1933 FOREIGN PATENTS 236,956 Great Britain Dec. 24, 1925 

